UK's FTSE 100 rounds off second week with losses

By Purvi Agarwal and Roshan Abraham

(Reuters) -London's main equity indexes logged declines for a second week on Friday, but ended higher for the day supported by healthy gains in homebuilder stocks, while positive U.S. jobs data this week allayed fears of recession in the world's largest economy.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.3% on the day, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.6%. However, both indexes ended down on the week, with midcaps down 1.5%.

Thursday's weekly U.S. jobless claims fell more-than-expected, suggesting that fears of a cooling labour market were overblown.

Global markets had a volatile week as fears of a U.S. recession following U.S. jobs data for July and a surge in the yen after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates on July 31 caused investors to unwind yen carry trades.

In London, homebuilders were among top gainers, rising 1.5%, after Bellway joined rivals in offering an upbeat outlook of the sector following the Bank of England's rate cut and the new labour government's proposed planning reforms.

Rate-sensitive real estate investment trusts gauge and the real estate sector index also moved up 1% each.

On the flip side, personal care, drugs and grocery stocks and the luxury sector led declines, down 0.8% each.

Next week will be a crucial one as investors will closely monitor the consumer price inflation data in the United States and the UK, alongside Britain's gross domestic product figures for the second quarter.

"With concerns about the quantum of existing carry trades still lingering, next week looks a significant one in terms of economic announcements with readings of US inflation and retail sales," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Among other movers, Hargreaves Lansdown gained 2.3% after the investment platform agreed to a 5.44 billion pound ($6.94 billion) takeover by an international consortium.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Roshan Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)